Iraqi government troops say they are in “full control” of east Mosul three months into a major operation to recapture the country’s second city, despite some Islamic State fighters remaining along the Tigris river.

The battle for Mosul in maps

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The Iraqi army’s Lt Gen Talib Shaghati, who commands the counter-terrorism forces, hailed what he called a “big victory” and told reporters that plans were now being drawn up to retake the Isis-held western part of the city. He did not elaborate on when that part of the operation would begin.

Sheghati added however that while the east of the city could be considered under government control, some work remained to flush out the last Isis fighters. “Important lines and important areas are finished ... there is only a bit of the northern (front) remaining,” he said at a press conference.

Wednesday’s advance came after Iraqi troops over the past few days intensified their push into the last Isis-held neighbourhoods in east Mosul, closing in on the Tigris river. Stiff resistance by the militants, thousands of civilians being trapped in their houses by the fighting, and bad weather, had previously slowed the advances of the troops.

Skirmishes and clashes have continued in some pockets along the Tigris in east Mosul, according to Iraqi special forces Maj Ali Hussein, who said his unit was still pushing into the Ghabat area along the riverbank. Small arms fire could be heard and at least one civilian was wounded by mortar fire.

The Iraqi prime minister, Haider al-Abadi, issued a statement saying that “work is underway to liberate” Ghabat and the area housing Saddam Hussein’s former presidential palaces in east Mosul. He also vowed to liberate the western side of the city.

The task of retaking west Mosul is likely to be a difficult one for Iraqi forces. It is home to some of Mosul’s oldest neighbourhoods, with narrow streets packed with buildings that will further complicate the urban fight.

Mosul fell to Isis in the summer of 2014, when the militant group captured large swaths of northern and western Iraq. It is the group’s last remaining major stronghold in Iraq.